


All those half words

by rainfoxarts



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Canon Related, During Canon, Family, Mother-Daughter Relationship, One Shot, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 20:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19911709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainfoxarts/pseuds/rainfoxarts
Summary: Hollykit and her mother, Squirrelflight, visit Jaykit in the medicine cat den after the fox incident, and Hollykit reflects on her life and family.





	All those half words

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during Warriors - Power of Three: The Sight.  
> Contains spoilers for this arc.  
> Just some writing pratice by adding extra flavor to canon :)

Hollykit followed her mother into Leafpool’s den. As her gaze fixed on the unconscious form of her brother, Jaykit, she barely registered the she-cats greeting each other. She padded to the edge of his nest and sat there, feeling a brush on her fur as Squirrelflight came to stand beside her.  
  
The she-kit’s pelt started to draw in heat. Not from any cat in the den, but from her own shame. If Lionkit, Jaykit and her had never tried to find those dumb scary foxes, her brother wouldn’t be injured now, and nobody would be looking at her like she was mousebrained, or talking about Jaykit with that pity she knew he despised. Worse still was the sad, tired gaze that clouded her mother’s green eyes. Squirrelflight hadn’t been the most present mother in their early life, she had returned to her warrior duties rather quickly, but whenever she came back to the nursery, she looked happy to see them even through her tiredness. A constant reminder she loved them. Hollykit knew her sadness too was out of love. Jaykit had been born blind, and this accident was yet another pebble on the path of his dream of becoming a warrior. Nobody but their family understood how much they felt for him, even when the gray kit himself didn’t appreciate it.  
  
A noise pulled her out of those thoughts as Squirrelflight finally sat down, her thick-furred red tail wrapping around her paws, hiding the white of one of them. Hollykit found herself staring at her mom, and quickly looked down at her own paws instead. Not even Lionkit had a tail as bushy as their mom’s, and none of them inherited her fiery-red pelt. Secretly, Hollykit sometimes wished she had more in common with her mother. She had green eyes too, but they looked more like her grandmother Sandstorm’s eyes, than the vivid green both Firestar and Squirrelflight shared. Once, the black she-kit wished she too had one white paw, but she changed her mind after hearing the nursery tales of the bloodthirsty cat Scourge: a killer with ice in his blood, who had almost destroyed the clans even before they knew of the lake. No, she would never want to look like a murderer, who did so much harm. She was Thunderclan through and through, and she would never kill another cat ever!  
  
Banishing that mental image, Hollykit looked over her shoulder, past her mother’s shape, at Leafpool. The medicine cat had been sorting her herbs with her back to them since they got there, but the way her ears were angled at Jaykit showed her concern. Leafpool had always clearly cared for Hollykit and her brothers as their kin, despite not spoiling them. At least, not as much as Ferncloud sometimes did. But then again, Ferncloud had lost kits before, so it made sense to her that she’d be more willing to show kits as much love as she could, unlike a she-cat who chose to not ever have kits.   
  
Ferncloud had been like a second mother to the three siblings. Squirrelflight ran out of milk early, and decided to go back to her warrior duties. When Sandstorm visited, Hollykit sometimes remembered her and Ferncloud joking about how they were surprised Squirrelflight, out of all she-cats, would decide to have kits so soon after picking a mate, and that they weren’t surprised when she got restless. Hollykit didn’t see it as being restless. Dustpelt would go on and on to them and his kits - who were never listening, since they were too young - about duty to the clan and to the warrior code. _All cats within the clan are an essential asset to its survival_. The black she-kit began admiring both of her parents for working so hard, even if it meant they were always busy. She wanted to be important, just like Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw.  
  
And that was why this whole situation hurt so much.   
  
She looked back at her brother. They couldn’t be such mouse-brains anymore. The three of them were meant to be great, she knew it, and she would make it to greatness. But she didn’t feel _great_ right now, and she needed to get something out of her chest.  
  
Looking up at her mother, Hollykit was surprised when she made eye contact with her. The kit almost looked away, her fur bristling, but instead she held. “... Squirrelflight.” She began, receiving only a slow blink in response. “I… I’m sorry. We really thought we could get those foxes, but it was very mousebrained. If I knew Jaykit would get hurt I--”  
  
“I know, Hollykit.” Squirrelflight interrupted, her eyes now fixed somewhere very far away. “Your heart was in the right place, but what you and your siblings did wasn’t well thought out. Sometimes we make decisions we feel are right, but they still hurt someone. Maybe even ourselves. And we have to live with them.”  
  
Hollykit felt like something in her mother’s voice and expression made it seem like she wasn’t really talking to her. She half-noticed that Leafpool had stopped organizing herbs, when her mother suddenly looked at her again.  
  
“But you must never do that again. You’re still kits and you must listen when we say something is out of your league. A sense of adventure is great, but you three aren’t Firestar. Don’t go risking your lives like that.” The red she-cat said firmly, making the kit wince at the sudden scolding. Squirrelflight had used her mom-voice, which was a dramatic shift from her tired tone, and always contrasted with her usual energetic mew.   
  
“Yes, Squirrelflight.” Hollykit said submissively, looking at her paws. She had expected it to go like this, hadn’t she?  
  
A small chuckle coming from the herb stores made Hollykit look out from the corner of her eyes. Leafpool was looking at her sister with some level of amusement as she padded closer. “Time has really changed you, Squirrelflight. It’s hard to believe the she-cat who went to sun-drown-place is talking about safety.”  
  
Squirrelflight’s ear twitched. “I learned plenty about thinking things through back then, thanks. I know when to learn my lessons. Being a mother also contributed.” At that the sisters stared in each other’s eyes expressionlessly. Hollykit gazed back and forth between them, confused at the sudden tension. They were so close, were they fighting? Why?  
  
After a few heartbeats, Squirrelflight blinked first. With a strange expression, she bent down to give Jaykit a lick on his head. The gray kit’s breathing was still and deep, but under his breath was the softest purr at the contact. The red she-cat smiled briefly at that, then nudged Hollykit. “We should let Jay rest now.” She said, and the she-kit just nodded.   
  
The two of them walked to the entrance. Squirrelflight stopped turn back at her sister, not looking at her . “I trust you’ll take a good care of him.” She said, her tone a little softer.  
  
“... like he were my own kit.” Leafpool replied. Did Hollykit imagine her voice cracking?  
  
Her mother looked again at Leafpool, then pushed through the brambles at the entrance. The kit followed, feeling a little weirded out by the exchange. But it was best to not get into her mother’s personal business, specially when she was already in trouble. Hollykit’s mind was often racing, however, and she couldn’t help but wonder…  
  
… was there any meaning to all those half-words?


End file.
